Guptas, Zuma jr fall on swords

SCRUTINY: STEP DOWN FROM OAKBAY BOARD

Directors abdicated to ‘end smear campaign’ and ‘save employees’ jobs’.

Caving under intense public scrutiny and what they describe as a “sustained political attack”, the controversial Gupta family has announced that they will step down from the board of family-owned Oakbay Investments.

Joining them in their exit will be President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane Zuma, who is a non-executive director of the JSE-listed group’s mining arm, Oakbay Resources and Energy.

Zuma’s son told the media that notwithstanding his efforts to participate meaningfully in the economy, aspersions were cast on him and his family.

“As a result thereof, I have decided to relinquish all positions that I hold at Oakbay companies and am exiting investments.

“My history and background is no different from that of all previously disadvantaged black people. Poverty in South Africa carries a black face and I didn’t invent that,” he said in a statement.

The move comes amid growing suspicion around the extent of the family’s ties with the president, allegations of their offering cabinet positions in exchange for commercial favours and the dumping of Oakbay Resources by the company’s bankers and auditors.

Banking groups First National Bank and Absa, along with Oakbay Investment sponsors Sasfin Capital and company auditors KPMG recently announced that they were severing ties with the Gupta-lead conglomerate, rendering it almost impossible for the company to do business, Oakbay Investments CEO Nazeem Howa said yesterday.

KPMG’s withdrawal as the company’s auditors also put Oakbay’s JSE listing in jeopardy, as South Africa’s Companies Act requires all companies registered on the Johannesburg bourse to have an appointed auditor.

In a letter to employees yesterday, Howa said the Gupta and Zuma board abdication came following a “sustained political attack” on the Guptas and had been done in an effort to end the smear campaign against the group and “save all of our jobs”.

She further confirmed that the group had been in direct contact with the ministries of labour, finance, mineral resources and the office of the president to express “deep disappointment” over the decisions of Oakbay’s banking partners.

In a separate statement to the media, the Guptas said they hoped their resignation from the board and “any involvement in the business” would save the livelihoods of “tens of thousands” of people.

My history and background is no different from that of all previously disadvantaged black people.

Duduzane Zuma